Release
by Nuadha
Summary: This is a two part fic: "In hindsight, she should have seen the cracks. Betrayal and abandonment. Her so-called friends and her so-called family. She should have seen this coming a long time ago." COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender and do not financially profit from this.

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><p>She had screamed, at first. Wailing and spitting as the uncontrolled flames burst from her body. It had seemed like the best course of action at the time. After all, it's not everyday that your world crumbles to dust. The growing cracks in her tinted glasses had finally led to their shattering, leaving nothing but the clear, cold, white light of reality. Who wouldn't scream? Who wouldn't try to burn it all away?<p>

In hindsight, she should have seen the cracks. Betrayal and abandonment. Her so-called friends and her so-called family. She should have seen this coming a long time ago. It had been wishful thinking on her part to think that they would ever be loyal to her, that they would ever love her. Nobody loves a monster. She couldn't blame them. It was her fault. It had always been her fault.

Then came the battle. Her last shred of hope to stem the merciless tide of realisation that seeped into her mind, washing every memory and thought of her own perception. An assault by a vivid and undeniable clearness. It was a forlorn hope. She should have seen that too. As the fires raged and the wind howled, her already tenuous control began to slip further, but she fought on. She couldn't lose. Not to him. Not to someone so weak and pathetic. Not to someone so beneath her. But she did. There was no dignity in such a defeat. No glory. No honour.

She should be dead. She should have at least been granted that meagre amount of respect. To die in combat, as she was, a warrior. But her opponent had denied her that. Such cruelty was beyond even her. So here she was, caged like an animal. Fitting.

Many had come, at first, standing back as her flames licked the walls. The flames were the first to go and they soon after. She did not know how long she had been down here. She did not care. Some still came now and then, offering food or words. She took neither. But this time was different. She raised her head as the door clanged open. A tall, bearded man stepped into the darkness. His armour protested as he knelt down.

"Azula, it's feeding time."

The man half-dropped a ceramic bowl onto the stone floor. It joined the countless others that littered the entrance to her cell. The man looked at the shackled girl. As her fire went, so did their fear. She didn't move. He grunted. "Suit yourself," he snarled, turning towards the door.

She moved, shackles falling to the ground. The man gasped as her weight sent him careening into the wall opposite the cell. The man rose quickly, hand on his sword. All of his training rushed to the forefront of his mind as he prepared for battle, only to dissipate as blue flame came into view. His grip on his sword slackened as fear took over.

"Please," he whispered, "don't kill me!"

"Only one shall die tonight." She extinguished the anaemic ember and smashed her hand against the man's forehead, driving the back of his skull into the wall. The man slid down the wall, collapsing into unconsciousness. She knelt and drew a dagger from the man's belt.

"Only one shall die tonight."

The palace walls came into view, obscuring the moon. She knew them well. Who better than a princess to break into a palace?

There were no guards. This entrance was unknown, except to precocious children of course. She found the crack in the stone and placed her hand inside. Her fingers wrapped around a smooth stone. She pulled. Near the ground, a section of the wall slid upwards. She bent down to examine the opening. It was smaller than she had remembered. But that didn't matter. She was little more than a walking skeleton at this point.

She crawled through the insect infested dirt to the garden that lay beyond. She stood up and automatically began wiping the mush from her clothes. She had done this when she was younger too. It did not befit a royal to be caked in mud and the remains of crushed insects. She held a small flame to the mud, drying it out before she peeled it from her clothes.

Satisfied, she looked up and surveyed the grounds beyond the trees where she stood. Empty. Not for long, she thought, as she remembered the remaining guards in the prison. She had welded the main door shut. They should be through by now. They should be coming here.

She stepped out from the trees and raced across the moonlit garden towards the safety of the shadows. There was a window open above her, but what lay inside was dark. She hoisted herself up, her will overriding her failing body's protests, and slipped into the room.

She knew where to go, though she had rarely been there. Her father had forbidden it, almost never giving permission. She walked down empty hallways. The guards were outside the palace walls and only occasionally walked the grounds. She came to the entrance. There was no hesitation. She placed her arms on the double-doors and thrust them open.

Azula breathed deeply. She was there. That look on her face. Always that look.

She locked eyes with the woman, fingering the handle of her stolen blade.

"Please, forgive me."

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><p><em>Part 2 should be posted within 2-3 days.<em>


	2. Chapter 2

_I had more spare time than I thought I would have had, so I finished this a day earlier than I expected I would._

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><p>Since he was a child, he had pictured her defeat. The look of shock and horror on her face as she fell to the ground. The realisation in her eyes, that, for all her talk, she was not perfect. He had imagined his own glee at her loss. He had imagined laughing at her as she struggled to stand up. He had imagined winning. After all, she would have done the same. She had done the same.<p>

But, as his sister fell to her knees, the long-awaited joy did not arrive. Then, she had screamed, flame billowing from her body. It was nothing like what he had imagined. It was terrifying. They had both believed it. They had both believed what their father had taught them. Even in his rejection of his father, he had still believed it. That Azula was better than him, born lucky, perfect. That illusion had been shattered. Azula was broken. It was only now that they could truly see it.

Zuko shifted slightly in his chair behind the great oak desk that had served the Fire Lord since before Sozin. A gift from an Avatar. It was quiet. During such moments his mind was inevitably drawn to his sister. He did not know why. He didn't even like her. Any pity he felt for her was more out of morbid fascination than anything else. She had brought this on herself.

Mai had talked him into visiting Azula in the prison. She had still felt a sense of duty towards the former princess, though Zuko could not understand why. Mai had brought Ty Lee along with them for the visit. It was bad. Days later, and she was still screaming, though her flames grew weaker. There was no hope, and so, they left.

Upon leaving the prison, Ty Lee had burst into tears and ran off. Mai had followed her, leaving Zuko alone with his thoughts. Two months later and none of them had been back. None of them knew what to do. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to do anything.

Zuko raised his head sharply as a loud knock came from the other side of the door across from the desk. Nobody was supposed to disturb him with anything less than a matter of life and death.

He cleared his throat. "Come in."

The doors opened and two guards rushed into the room. "My Lord, your sister has escaped!"

Zuko froze, unsure about what to do. This was unexpected. The reports had said that she was unable to firebend. His eyes narrowed. Another of her lies, it seemed.

The other guard spoke up. "We secured the grounds as soon as the alarm was raised, My Lord. In case she comes back."

Zuko nodded. "Leave. I want a search party organised as soon as possible. All firebenders, understand?"

"But, My Lord, we can't leave the palace unsecured. What about your safety?"

Zuko replied with a raised voice, "I am a master firebender. I can take care off myself. It's others that I'm worried about. Now, go."

The two guards bowed deeply and then hurried out the door towards the entrance to the palace. Zuko followed them out of the office, but turned right instead of left, heading towards the room were Mai was staying before their marriage was made official. Azula's former room.

He came to the thick double doors and placed his hands on them, pushing them inwards.

Mai started as Zuko came through the doors unannounced. Well, she couldn't say that it was unlike him. That's why she liked him, after all. She stared stoically at him. "Yes?"

"Azula has escaped."

Her heart skipped a beat, but her expression remained unchanged. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what she felt towards her former companion. She had been angry, but that had faded, leaving only a bad taste. "That's unexpected."

Zuko continued, "I've ordered that a search party be organised. We'll stay together, in case she comes to the palace. We should go to the main hall."

Mai nodded and stood up. She followed Zuko from the room into the hallway. She had visited Azula in prison. Any remaining anger towards the girl had fled from her at that moment. Azula had always been so composed, so in control, so perfect. But at that moment, she had doubted whether the shrieking girl even knew her own name. You couldn't be angry at something so pitiful. They didn't know what to do, so they had left.

Mai and Zuko turned a corner to take the shortest route towards the main hall, through an old wing of the palace. Ty Lee had broken down when they had left the prison, running away as tears streamed down her face. Ty Lee was unique. Ty Lee had liked Azula. Though she had been afraid of the princess, their companionship wasn't based on that, unlike Mai's. No, Ty Lee had actually liked Azula. Perhaps the only person who ever did.

Both Zuko and Mai whirled around as they heard a noise from down a corridor further up the hallway to their right. Glancing at each other they both edged towards the corridors mouth, muscles tensing as they moved.

Halfway down the corridor, double doors lay open. They moved down the corridor, stepping cautiously to avoid making any sound. As they reached the double doors they could see a figure kneeling in the centre of the room.

"Azula!" Zuko silently cursed himself as the words escaped his lips, but the figure did not move. They waited, but still no movement. Zuko nodded at Mai and they entered the room.

Mai walked two steps behind Zuko, wary of the kneeling girl.

Zuko breathed deeply, steeling himself for a possible fight.

When they reached Azula, she still hadn't moved. Zuko stood for a moment, wondering what exactly to do. A whisper caught his ear and he glanced at Mai, whose eyes were uncharacteristically wide.

"Look up."

Zuko looked. A large painting hung on the wall. A portrait of a regal fire nation woman. His mother. He was now at Azula's side. He looked at her sharply, his eyes widening as he noticed it for the first time. He fell to the ground, frantically snatching at the knife handle.

He recoiled. The handle protruding from his sister's chest was white hot. The knife had seared through flesh and bone, cauterising the wound as it plunged deeper into the teenage girl's chest. It had pierced her heart, the one place that no one had ever thought that she would be hurt.

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><p><em>I hope that this was interesting.<em>


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